Can Mental Toughness Be Trained?

Is one of your limiting factors in racing not knowing what you are really capable of? 

WHAT DO I MEAN BY, NOT KNOWING WHAT YOU ARE CAPABLE OF? 

Here are some examples: 

You may have been in the sport for a while (older athlete) and during harder training, you navigate yourself away from going really hard as you don’t want to feel the pain (one of the key reasons I believe performance slows as we get older). 

Did you slow down during your last ironman/ 70.3 run, not knowing how to get that running speed back to your optimal pace? 

What about a young athlete or an athlete who is new to endurance sports and doesn’t understand how to get through tough patches?  

With all these scenarios (and there are hundreds more), do we just admit defeat and back off trying to race to the best of our ability? Or do we learn that all performance athletes have gone through this and learned how to get to the other side?  

Then and only then do we know our true potential. 

SOME DON’T NEED IT: 

Some people don’t actually want or need to deal with this and be ‘mentally stronger‘ - some people just want to be healthy, have fun, chat with their mates on the way around a race, and are not in the slightest bit concerned with where they finish or how they perform. If it hurts, they will just slow down or walk. In some cases, if they are in ‘no man’s land’ (the midpoint in a race or halfway on the run) they just, sit on the side of the road and/or quit. 

BOXING: 

Boxing is a sport that most would agree requires mental toughness…  

In training, boxers will spar (fighting in training), they will get hit with good shots, and learn to deal with it. They will become physically exhausted and still have the mental clarity to make smart decisions about offense and defensive tactics. However, unlike endurance sports, there are consequences… getting hit in the face! Through their training/experience and sound coaching, they learn to build their mental toughness. 

BACK TO TRIATHLON: 

One of the toughest parts of our sport, whether you’re an age grouper racing Ironman (a little less so with staggered starts now!), a junior or  an elite athlete racing WT, is getting to and around that first buoy on the swim. 

Some back off and some take the outside line or stay at the back. It is brutal and even more brutal in elite short-course racing when they know their position around that first buoy will greatly determine their exit position and therefore the race outcome due to the nature of draft-legal racing. 

What about during your next Ironman (you know it’s coming!), you’re about 20 - 25k into the run, it’s hot, your legs are heavy and you’re still a long way from home… are you backing off your pace, thus missing your Kona slot, podium or PB? 

What about a 16-year-old girl, new to triathlon, 3k still to run, and she starts to get dropped by the small group she is running with… does she allow this to happen and then just decide… ‘I’m not good enough’?’ 

Or the age grouper whilst out on the Olympic distance bike course and some chap comes flying past with a very snazzy bike, disc wheel, and nice aero position looking strong… does he try and take pace (not drafting!) or just judge the book by its cover and say… “nope, too good”? 

The scenarios I have described, I think you will agree rely heavily on mental toughness… but, is it trainable? 

I hear coaches, psychologists, and athletes discussing this often and mostly they feel it is something innate. However, I fundamentally disagree, and here’s why... 

We all have good and bad days but my background in a sport where one must "dig in" when caught with a good shot (boxing), as a physical training instructor in the military and being involved in endurance sports since the mid-’90s,has taught me that by giving people the tools to master their headspace, mental toughness can be taught... but how? 

CONVENTIONAL V EASTERN PRACTICES: 

Conventional sports psychology will look to give you tools that help distract you from the discomfort (counting to 100 etc.), but when our fight, flight or freeze mentality kicks in, the lion we initially got scared of is still there… or put more simply, you still have 20k to run! 

Firstly, it is quite easy to just sit on the sofa and watch TV, entering a race/ event that is going to physically & mentally challenge you takes courage, so give yourself a pat on the back for that step. 

We know from studies, acceptance of and leaning into pain is more powerful than trying to distract away from pain when trying to endure discomfort. We also know pain is generated by the brain, not at the source i.e. if you cut your finger the brain gives it a pain score say 1 a little scratch to 10 sliced off! It is not generated by the nerve endings at that part of the body. 

Therefore, taking this into the discomfort we feel when training or racing, it now becomes very controllable and from this position of control, we gain confidence we can deal with an impending wobble! 

Therefore, with basic preparation and interventions, we see that in the same situation in which we may have scored as high as 7 or 8 with training/ practice we can get this down to a 1 or 2 over time. 

Before we look at the interventions, we need to go back to that fight, flight or freeze. One of the first steps is to ensure our internal conversation remains calm. Think about it -when we panic, the internal conversation is quick and hurried, and this doesn’t allow for good decision-making, we re-act instead of act. 

For example, when you first try hypoxic training in the pool, as you are getting close to running out of oxygen, panic sets in and you rush quickly to the surface (hypoxic work is a great arena in which to practice what is being discussed here). Over time, you can double the distance you cover underwater with awareness and calm control (picture free-divers). 

The first step in developing our mental strength is awareness. You have to set yourself up, deliberately knowing what is going to happen and the process you will implement when you hit the tough patch. 

FINDING A WAY THROUGH: 

• Acceptance; Calm conversation in the mind, acknowledging the discomfort and pain that are here and building, 

• Breathing; Focus on the out-breath as you breathe (this ensures you take in as much O2 as possible and gives you something positive to keep you in the moment and stay calm) 

• Self-compassion; Think of a positive self-statement, i.e.  ” It's okay, I’m going to lean into this, good work” 

• Physical; Know technically what you need to be doing i.e. when running, running tall, or checking your cadence. Something that keeps you in the moment and focused on the task at hand.  

• Observing; By this, I mean really looking at the beauty that’s around you, the trees, and flowers… but consciously looking and taking it in. 

• Finally - smile; Proven to release good chemicals in the brain! Even if you don’t feel like it - have you seen Eliud Kipchoge at the last miles of a marathon? Do you think he’s not in pain? 

NB; the pain I am discussing here is not the type of pain like a stress fracture or a twisted ankle, it is muscular endurance pain or mental fatigue discomfort. 

IN PRACTICE: 

While racing, you are mindful that the situation will arise at some point (awareness) and then, calmly, as you hit the tough patch, you accept it and with real interest and wonder, start your intervention. 

Focusing on the out-breath three times (this quiets the mind), say something calmly and compassionately, (this is very individual), “Ok, this is what I have been working on, I know I can handle this, I know I am stronger for it” (keep in mind here if you have not practiced this in training how do you know you can do it, don’t try and bluff your way). Then, think of a technical element of the sport you are doing - this ensures maximum economy of motion and may actually make it feel easier. You may lift your head and really take in the natural beauty around you. Then you smile!  

This is not a smile of arrogance, as this would be the ego (more about this in a further article) this smile is saying “I am mastering something”. 

Just like swimming, biking and running, the more you practice good technique, the more efficient/skilled you become. Slowly, increasing the intensity of the tough scenarios in training is the only way to become mentally stronger in racing. 

Different scenarios, races, and race distances will require different approaches. However, I guarantee you – if you put this simple process in place during training, you will feel a million dollars for breaking through a tough patch.  

Only when you put this into practice during racing, will you then start to realise your full potential. 

It doesn’t matter if you have quit before, it doesn’t matter if you have slowed down or walked… Becoming mentally tougher is TRAINABLE. 

JB 

Enthusiasm vs. Desire

What does it take to get to the next level?

I have always loved the word enthusiasm, ever since I ran the London marathon in 1996. On the back of my medal was Ralph Waldo Emerson's famous “Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm.” And I could not agree more.

In the past few years I've watched some very ordinary* young triathletes become very accomplished juniors; and a 29 year old city Lawyer take 19th in the London Olympic triathlon after only 18 months as a full-time athlete. Then there's the 40+ age grouper who sits on the turbo for up to five hours and then achieves a sub 9 hour ironman, a feat he never thought possible four years earlier.

There are many more stories like these, but is it enthusiasm alone that allows them to achieve so much?

Lately, surrounded by these very high achievers, I have pondered what takes them beyond what would seem possible, what gets them to the next level.

Enthusiasm is normally enough to get an athlete out of bed when it is raining and to tick off the training sessions set by the coach. It can get you round your first marathon or 10th ironman. I see enthusiastic athletes every day accomplishing great feats that the man in the street only dreams of. The weekend warrior, fuelled by enthusiasm, is a breed apart and one that I would happily have in the trenches with me.

I see enthusiasm flowing through triathletes all the time, elite and age group. The sport becomes their lifestyle. Many spend a small fortune on the next gadget or piece of kit; put a little more into their training than their families would like and even take time out of work to “see what they can do” in their quest for personal greatness. It keeps them fit, young, competitive and loaded with stories for dinner parties and they (we) love it!

(*No youth athlete has come into my team with national standard times in running or swimming).

Enthusiasm may not be enough:

With enthusiasm alone however they may not dig deeper on those gut busting middle reps (no mans land) or they may allow the voice in their heads to slow them down… just a little, until the pain subsides… Yet we know they had a little more to give, because their final rep is just a little faster than the middle ones.

The flipside is that they probably do the easy training a little too hard, as this feels like “training”.

Enthusiasm will not always see off the voices of doubt: “you're too old” or “you're not national standard” or “you're a bit skint, its time to go back to work.” All of the conversations that stop you going that extra mile, rep or lap and stop you becoming better than you ever thought possible.

Don't get me wrong - climbing your personal Everest is not for everyone and as I've already said, every one of the athletes I have encountered has achieved more with enthusiasm than the vast majority of the population ever dreams of. But if you do seek to take that step up to the next level it will require a dedication that can and will feel very lonely at times.

If you have the desire to achieve the very best of yourself, everything else must come second. You have to be selfish, and for what? Normally for little or no money or prestige.

The Dark Side

But enthusiasm also has a dark secret; it may be responsible for the journeyman boxer who loves his craft, consistently turning up at the gym for sessions. He likes putting his body on the line, to see if the next up-and-coming young punk can get past him and onto greater things… The ring and all that goes with it is his identity.

We also see a type of journeyman in elite triathlon, where the sport becomes a lifestyle: they have gone off the boil, training day in day out… but the fire seems dimmed and when they race, they do ok, but not close to their potential.

Summiting your Everest

So what is it that marks out those people we truly admire in sport, those who go on to (relative) legendary status?

Often, during their sporting careers we only really see the winning, picking up the gold's, having a bad day and coming back stronger and winning again. Until retirement that is, when we flick through their autobiographies and learn of the heartache and pain they endured to achieve success. We didn't know about the darker-than-dark periods of injury that would see the “merely” enthusiastic athlete listening to the “voices of reason” and looking for the door.

This is a different animal to the one who is purely enthusiastic. If you're lucky you see them at training every day, you can see it in their eyes, you can see them deliberately practicing their trade day in day out. It's not necessarily effortless and these animals may need to spend a little bit more time mastering something. But you wont see them quit, you may see frustration and low periods… but to these “every day warriors” the drives are deeper.

They must also love it, love the environment, the training, racing, battling to give the best of themselves daily.

A true legend does not just win a fight or a race. A legend is a person who through all manner of adversity, through the deepest darkest times of their lives, opens that door and brings to the table… DESIRE. A deep burning DESIRE to succeed whatever it takes.

Is DESIRE trainable?

I have had the pleasure of coaching people since the early 90's ranging from the military to “ladies-that-lunch”, children and age groupers through to elite Olympic athletes. After all these years I still ponder is “DESIRE” coachable or trainable or is it something we are born with?

It is not like learning a skill or just setting a goal, but it is the difference between a good solid performance that one can be proud of and an outstanding achievement.

Don't believe the hype:

We have heard and read about it… the reason the Kenyans / Ethiopians are such great runners is their drive to escape from poverty. Or the reason boxers are so ruthless / driven is their drive to drag themselves from rags to riches.

And this line of thought seemingly finds confirmation when we look at the repeated failures of the English football team on the world stage. Do you see desire in these highly paid and pampered players or rather do you see fear when they come anywhere near the quarter or semi-final?

A deep burning desire to succeed will transcend fear (something we've witnessed this week as Andy Murray dug himself out from two sets down in his quarter final against an opponent playing out of his skin).

And what about rowing, a very middle class sport, or even triathlon? Are we saying Redgrave et al or the brothers grim* don't have desire in bundles? Did breaking the four minute mile not require some of the deepest desire ever seen in sport… from an amateur (unpaid), Oxford student?

*(Brownlee's) I say this with the greatest respect as they make life very grim for other male triathletes!!!

This type of “fixed” thinking has stumped our middle and long-distance running for 20 years, until Radcliffe & Farah… so we should now see any runner worth their salt developing a growth mindset, not hampered a second longer thinking the Africans are better for any reason other than… they work harder.

This fixed mindset also stumps many junior athletes who have seen success early in sport. Enthusiastically getting out of bed at 5am for swimming six days a week since they were 10 years old. Now, when their competitors start doing the sort of volume they have done for years… for them to then work harder still, suffer more… requires something different, something bigger than enthusiasm.

But is it trainable? For sure you don't need to have that fire burning 365 days a year to dig deep. As triathletes you know the body needs to go through different phases of a year and you know when its time to “switch it on” and hit the hard sessions. Desire will really help you through them. You will also notice that if you have something on the horizon that you really want to achieve (a scary but realistic goal!), you will dig deeper. As you dig deeper in sessions, you will toughen up and actually look forward to working really hard and testing yourself.

Winter & injuries

Desire will also help deep in the dark winter months when you are focused on changing something or working on something… instead of enthusiastically practicing, you will deliberately practice. And we know “deliberate practice” the difference between going through the motions and mastering a task is the only way we can make long term changes.

Desire, believe it or not will be the key ingredient lurking, when you get that twinge / tightness and know you should be icing it, or get that massage, see a physio. The enthusiastic athlete will just eat dinner and put off the little things like icing, until tomorrow… alas, as Apollo Creed told Rocky… “there is no tomorrow”.

Key ingredients to tapping into DESIRE:

• Patience: knowing there are no quick fixes

• A willingness to suffer

• A scary but realistic goal / target

• A willingness to suffer more than others

• Deliberate practice

• A feeling of moving forward / progressing

• Seek out the best advice

• A refusal to listen to the excuses

• Belief in yourself & your system

• A love of what you are doing